


Take One For The Team

by AnabielVriskaMars



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-08
Updated: 2016-03-08
Packaged: 2018-05-25 13:44:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6197323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnabielVriskaMars/pseuds/AnabielVriskaMars
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He was always ready to protect her. Not because she needed it, but because he wanted to.</p><p>It just never occurred to him that she might be just as fierce in taking care of him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Take One For The Team

**Author's Note:**

> ha ha i said i wouldn't but i did.
> 
>  
> 
> whoops.

Honestly, he loved being Chat Noir.

Maybe it was the overprotected childhood. Maybe it was the feeling of doing something  _important_ for once. Maybe it was the fact that he was doing  _good_ for Paris.

It  _definitely_ had something to do with his partner, though.

See, growing up he only had one girl around his age, and that was Chloè. Its not that she was a bad person, just... okay, he might as well come out and say it: Chloè was a nightmare, even when she was his only friend. He never had a particular affinity for her --not any romantic type, especially-- so he was pretty sure that was going to stay that way with girl.

It wasn't that he wasn't  _interested_ in girls, it was just that he was so invested in making friends that a girlfriend sort of never crossed his mind.

And then came Ladybug.

She was brave and clever and sweet and so  _good_ to everyone. She would work  _so hard_ every day, and every time he saw her capture an Akuma it was just like falling in love once again with a girl whose name he might never even know.

But that didn't matter. What mattered is that he would always fight by her side, and he would never, ever  _ever_ leave her alone.

Which is why he was always ready to take a hit for her.

He remembered the time TimeBreaker hit him (he wasn't sure  _how_ that was a memory, but there it was), or the time Dark Cupid struck him with an arrow, or the time he was stuck in a photograph. Sometimes he felt more like a shield than a superhero, but that was okay, because every time he had managed to keep her safe, and every time she had managed to capture the Akuma.

So he would be her shield forever if that needed to be the case.

He never truly understood how Destruction became the shield and Creation became the sword, but he supposed it said more about who they were than anything.

Which is why this time, fighting Dark Miroir was no different. 

They were right under the Eiffel Tower this time. They had arrived just a few minutes ago, and  Miroir had already made a huge mess out of everything. He was able to create mirrors at will and trap people in their own reflection.

So far, the rue was full of people slamming their fists from inside mirrors, begging for Ladybug to draw them out. 

They were counting on her. He would protect her.

He used his baton to climb up a building and meet Ladybug at the roof, ready to quickly discuss strategy.

"The Akuma is in his hand." She pointed out quickly. There was no time for greetings. "If we break the mirror in his hand everything will turn back to normal."

He grinned at her, always ecstatic to see her take command of the situation. "Say the word and I follow you, My Lady."

Ladybug nodded. "Okay, I think I can use my yoyo to make him trip when he's walking towards the Tower. Once I do, make sure you break the mirror, and then we're good to go."

Chat nodded. "I think I can make him follow me." He grinned once again at her. "After all, I  _am_ the most infuriating feline in the vicinity."

Ladybug laughed a little and winked, and this was enough to charge him up with courage. "You overestimate yourself,  _Petit Chaton_."

Full of glee and charged up on her wink and smile, Chat Noir jumped into action. He landed gracefully about 20 feet from Dark Miroir. He stood up straight and leapt into action.

Adrien himself had a hard time explaining how he did everything he did as Chat Noir. He would display courage he had no idea he possessed, and perform feats that seemed straight out of a comic book, and even if he were able to talk about it with someone, he wouldn't ever be able to explain how he did it. It was like being a guest in his own body and sharing the commands.

Dark Miroir sent mirrors everywhere, and Chat jumped easily to avoid them. He saw Ladybug get closer from behind Miroir ready to strike, and felt a glow of pride for her--

\--and landed straight in a slippery mirror. He lost his footing easily and soon was supine on the floor.

" _Chat!"_ He heard Ladybug scream from behind Miroir, and it was enough to alert him of her presence, but it didn't matter: Miroir  _knew_ who the best target was.

Chat Noir despaired for a second, knowing that it once again it would all come down to Ladybug, and he could do nothing to help. He saw the saw the way Miroir charged the power in his hand and thrust it forward and---

a black mat covered his sight.

It didn't take him a moment to realise that he had  _not,_ in fact, been hit, but that there was a warmth around his body and a delicious smell in his nose.

He felt Ladybug tense before he felt her become nothing and melt into the mirror under him.

" _No!"_ he screamed, but it was too late. Her big blue eyes were looking at him from the other side of the mirror, and no matter how hard he slammed his fist against it, he could not reach her.

Ladybug looked towards the villain and then back at Chat, and he saw the glimmer of fear there, and that was enough to drop a bucket of cold water all over his body.

This was really,  _really_ bad.

Miroir laughed victorious. "Looks like I caught myself a cute little  _coccinelle._ "

Chat was horrified, staring at LAdybug's reflection and pressing his palms towards the mirror as if he could reach her. He could see her blue eyes filled with fear, but the set of her mouth and the press of her lips and the furrow of her brow were nothing short of courageous.

"Chat, listen to me," her voice was muffled from the other side of the mirror. "I think if you break his mirror, we'll be able to get out."

Oh god, he was shaking. He couldn't do this without her!

Once again he looked into her eyes, and he saw that she was scared, and somehow that froze his resolve into a rock.

He straightened up.

He would protect Ladybug from anything. Even if it wasn't the way he had planned it.

He smiled confidently at her and winked, inwardly wondering where his confidence came, but it didn't matter. He grinned. 

"Do not despair, my fair lady, I'll have you out of there in no time!"

She gave him a tiny, still-scared-but-trying-to-be-courageous smile and that was all he needed to give it his all.

Once again he sprang into action.

In retrospect, when Adrien saw the news later that afternoon, he could not believe it was him doing all that. He fought as he'd never fought before, and in a way he never knew he could.

For some time, it felt as if Ladybug was guiding him, telling him to use the strangest contraptions in his favour. In the end, he managed to trip Miroir using his cane on the Tower and pushing him back with the help of a sales cart that he managed to push forward with a laundry line he crashed against at some point.

Miroir crashed on the floor, his mirror only a few steps away from him, which Chat easily stepped on and broke, destroying every mirror and releasing every person trapped inside.

Including Ladybug.

She captured the Akuma quickly and flawlessly. They were both on their way before the reporters finished arriving.

* * *

Chat sat on the rooftop,not yet ready to give up his transformation. He was still impressed by the events of the day, and wondered a thousand things.

The first of which being why would LAdybug do something as foolish as getting herself captured instead of him.

"You look like you could use some milk,  _petit chaton_." He heard her voice before he saw her step on the roof. He watched her as she carefully but confidently made her way and sat down only two feet away from him. "You did amazing today."

Chat was speecheless.

"What happened? Cat got your tongue?" She joked, and it was this that finally brought him back to his senses.

"What happened today?" He asked her. She stared back, confused. "Why did you let him capture you?"

Ladybug blinked twice before answering. "Well, it wasn't  _on purpose_ , you know."

"You should have let him capture _me_ instead." He insisted. Ladybug just looked at him for a few seconds, her gaze inscrutable, before turning to look at the daylight skyline of Paris.

"Its funny, now that you mention it." She explained. "I didn't even think about it. One moment I was creeping up behind him and the next I was just  _there_ , pressed against you, melting into a mirror."

Chat's voice caught in his throat. "What?"

LAdybug sighed and stretched a bit. 

"What? Did you think I  _liked_ being the damsel in distress all the time?" She asked playfully. Chat stared at her, mouth agape.

"My Lady,  _"damsel in distress"_  are the  _last_   words I would ever use to describe you."

Ladybug gave him a sideways glance before quicky turning away. It might have been his mind playing tricks on him, but he swore he saw  _something_ in that look.

"You do realize that we are a team, right?" She asked. Chat remained quiet. "You have saved me more times than I can count. I always figured it was because I was the one who could capture the Akumas... but after today I'm not so sure."

Chat remained agape.

"I don't think I'd ever moved that fast, you know." She confessed. "I just... really, _really_ didn't want you to be on the other side of those mirrors. Maybe you're right, and it was the wrong choice, or irresponsible, or something, but I couldn't stop myself."

He had a really,  _really_ hard time concentrating now.

Evreything inside him was a cluttered mess. Her words bounced inside his head against the walls of his mind, trying to scrutinize their meaning. He wanted a  _real_ answer. but  he didn;t want to fool himself into thinking she was saying somethin she wasn't really saying.

The bottom line was that he was in cloud nine.

And that's when he heard the worst sound he could have heard at that moment.

"Looks like your time is almost up." Ladybug pointed at his ring.

Chat looked at his ring and for a moment considered ignoring it. Let him detransform. Let her  _see_ who he was, even if she wouldn't let  _him_ see. He didn't care.

Ladybug got up. He reached out but stopped before grabbing her hand. She looked at him, he could've sworn she was sorry.

"You know the rules." She said sadly, and he  _did_ know them, but he didn't care.

He just didn;t want this moment to end, not yet.

"I never thanked you for today." He said dumbly, and she smiled at him.

"You've done the same for me a thousand times. What made you think that you are the only one who cares in this team."

Chat stood up, ready to see her off. It broke his heart, but he knew that their time was up for today.

LAdybug smiled at him. "I have to go." She said, and if on cue, her earrings started ringing. He sighed sadly and let his head drop.

And that's when he felt it.

It was so soft it might as well not have been there, except for the fact that every single one of his nerve endings was on edge, and when he was Chat he felt everything a little more, and he was so,  _so_ thankful for that right now.

She was on her tiptoes, and planted just the tiniest ladybug kiss on his cheek, many inches away from his lips. It was quick and soft, he knew, but it felt as if it lasted forever.

Before he could do anything, she pulled back, and even under her mask he could see a little blush creeping on her cheek. He would've liked terribly to say something clever and charming and wonderful, but this time a cat  _had_ eaten his tongue and there was nothing he could do or say save gently touching the place where her lips had been.

"Bye bye,  _petit chaton_ ," she said sweetly before jumping off the bridge and swinging away with her yoyo.

That had, without a doubt, been the best moment of Adrian Agreste's life.

 


End file.
